When Susannah Thompson was young, she enjoyed going to New Park Street Chapel with her cousin because she was intrigued by its pulpit. It extended out from the wall just above the heads of the congregation, meaning that sometimes if she had been reading her Bible and then looked up, the preacher had appeared out of nowhere (even though she knew that he had only slipped through the door in the wall behind him). Little did she know that one day that door would open to reveal her future husband and the love of her life.
In the past, New Park Street Chapel had been pastored by well-known preachers, such as Benjamin Keach and Thomas Gill, but one Sunday they had invited a young man from Cambridgeshire. He was only 19 years old, but already people were talking about his powerful preaching and predicting an illustrious future for him in the ministry.
First hearing Charles
One Sunday, Susannah was staying with the Olneys, but did not go to church with them that morning. However, when they came home at lunchtime full of praises for the young preacher and the message he had delivered, she decided to go with them in the evening. The Olneys had been sorry to see so many empty seats at the morning service, and were aware of the disappointment of the young preacher, so they spent some time in the afternoon encouraging everyone they knew to come and listen to him that evening, so that he would see a full church when he opened the door to the pulpit.
When he did so, Susannah was shocked. She had been told that Spurgeon was young, she knew he was from the countryside, but in her eyes he just didn’t look like a preacher. His hair was badly cut, as was his suit, and what was that he was carrying in his hand? A blue handkerchief with white spots!
Susannah was a well-brought-up young lady, so she resigned herself to listening to what this young man had to say. The first thing she noticed was his accent, which told her that he was not from an educated background. As he continued to preach, she was so distracted by his appearance that she hardly remembered a word of the sermon.
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